Repair
by Trainee Hero
Summary: Set just after Cyberwoman. Ianto is broken, but his new neighbour Alice is determined to help. His new neighbour who arrived just after a slight surge of Rift activity...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. If I did I probably wouldn't be writing this. **

Ianto Jones woke up the way he usually did these days, badly. Very badly. As soon as his eyes opened a tear escaped and ran down his cheekbone and into his ear. His stomach clenched and began to ache deeply, the pain spreading out to his very fingertips. He hurt everywhere.

He swiftly threw off the duvet and his emotional exterior, knowing he had to get to the Hub. His body ran on auto-pilot, making his breakfast, washing and dressing, cleaning up after himself, while his brain talked away to itself.

_'Get to the Hub. I'm starting to really hate the Hub. Hate the sight of it, the smell of it, the feel of it. It feels cold and metallic, like steel. It smells like too much cleaner, yet there's not enough cleaner in the world to wash away what happened. Every time I go in I see the blood I had to clean off the floors and walls. Lisa's blood. Oh, Lisa...'_

Ianto felt his hand reach out and pick up his keys. He felt like he was floating just behind himself, his mind and his body strangely disconnected. Like a person trapped in ice, he was too numb to feel pain, yet he knew he was in agony.

As he left his flat, he vaguely noticed a brunette woman moving boxes into the flat next to his. He gave her a quick nod then went on his way. He didn't notice that she watched him go.

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Ianto unlocked his front door, his body screaming at him not to move, just collapse and sleep. He was tired to his bones. Working long hours at Torchwood was not a job you should have when waking up seemed like hard work to you. All Ianto wanted to do was crumple to the floor and sleep forever. Sleep didn't hurt.

There was a rustling noise as he pushed the door open, which really surprised him. He didn't usually get any mail other than bills, and it was still the middle of the month. He shut the door and gaped when he saw what had been left for him.

It looked like a birthday present. The small baby blue package even had a yellow bow with a small card tied to it. Ianto picked it up and read the card. It said,

Hello.

My name is Alice. I'm your new next door neighbour. I know this seems strange, but when I saw you this morning, you looked pretty down so I thought I'd cheer you up. I didn't know what you liked, so I got three kinds. Hope you feel better soon. xxx

Ianto stared at the card. Who did this sort of thing any more? And for a complete stranger? He untied the ribbon and flipped the package over so he could reach the taped down tabs. He carefully peeled off the tape and slipped the paper off. Three cuboid objects slid into his palm.

Ianto gave a small half smile. This Alice woman had given him chocolate bars, one dark, one milk, and one white. He opened the milk one and popped a square into his mouth. His empty stomach protested at the sudden rush of sweetness, but he fought down the feeling and just enjoyed the taste.

As soon as he blinked, Ianto remembered how exhausted he was. His eyelids seemed to fight against opening. He was tempted to just kick off his shoes and flop onto his bed, but with a remarkable surge of will power, he managed to move to the bathroom and undress.

Clad only in his boxers, Ianto stood in front of the sink and reached for his toothbrush. He hated the sight of his own reflection. His eyes had dark rings around them, his eyelids tinged red. The sudden weight loss he'd had made his torso look jagged and stretched. Once when he had got up in the night and passed the mirror on his wardrobe door, he'd seen himself fully in the moonlight. He'd looked like a poor lost ghost, pale as death and full of sadness.

Finished in the bathroom, he went into his bedroom and practically fell into bed. He pulled the duvet close and curled up around himself. Just before the sleep he craved claimed him, he realised how sad and pathetic his life must be if the high point of his day was the random act of pity by a person he'd never met.

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Alice, as she now called herself, stared at the wall of her flat, imagining the man on the other side. He would be adorable when he slept, she was certain of that. His face would be calm and peaceful, his pale, smooth hands gripping the covers. And every so often he would twitch and shift positions ever so slightly. She smiled at the image.

She could feel his mental energy coming through the wall. His heartbreak was practically oozing out of him in great chunks. She had felt it this morning even before she'd seen him, the way a bat feels the presence of a mountain. And Alice had never liked mountains.

**Please review. This is my first Torchwood fic.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I still have to write these things. Torchwood belongs to the BBC and not me.**

Jack stood with his arms folded, his forehead creased into a frown. If any of the Torchwood team had seen him, they would have thought the frown was caused by the Rift activity spike the Jack was reading up on. Jack's thought's were elsewhere, though. Several miles west and six floors up from the Hub, to be exact.

Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was really worried about Ianto. The young Welshman seemed to be sinking further and further into himself. He barely spoke, and when he did it was a flat monotone about nothing at all. Jack had considered sending him to a therapist, but changed his mind when he thought about what Ianto would say. _'My co-workers shot the woman I loved because she was turned into a killer by metal monsters from a parallel world. Well, technically they shot the pizza girl that my girlfriend's brain was in, but the point still stands. Oh, and my boss held me at gunpoint.' _Jack would almost have found the thought funny if the situation hadn't been so serious. The last thing Jack wanted was for Ianto to be sent to a psych ward.

He vaguely wondered what The Doctor would have done. Would The Doctor have tried to save Lisa Hallett? Or would he deemed it hopeless like Jack had done?

_'The Doctor would have done all he could. Did you?'_

Jack sighed again. There were times when he really wished he didn't have to force himself to sleep. That the gentle drop into oblivion would just come naturally every night like it did for everyone else. He gave a wry, humourless smirk. They didn't know how lucky they were.

twtwtw

Ianto sat on the edge of his bed, his hands flopped uselessly at his knees. Tears fell down his face but he didn't wipe them away. He just stared ahead, his eyes blank and glassy. If he had been thinking at that moment, he would have been worried that he wasn't thinking. His mind was completely blank. It was like he'd just shut down. He couldn't even remember why he'd woken up.

twtwtw

Alice sat up from her bed, her eyes jumping to the wall. She grinned. _'Perfect.' _she thought, _'The drug worked.' _Her eyes became riveted to the wall. If anyone had been in the room with her, they would have been terrified to see her eyes change from human-looking hazels to ghostly white all over, except for the thin ring of black where her irises had been.

She reached out her mind, feeling her way towards Ianto. '_Contact.'_ Alice felt his mind, so vulnerable, so broken, fill her grasp. She had him now. He'd be better in no time.

twtwtw

Ianto's eyes rolled back and he keeled over onto the bed, asleep before he'd hit the mattress.

**Please leave a review, it would really make my day.**


	3. Chapter 3

Ianto rolled over in bed, wrapping the duvet around himself as he did. His eyes slowly blinked open, before slamming shut to protect themselves from the invasion of sunlight. He rolled back over, untangling himself as he did so, so that his own shadow protected his eyes. Easing himself out of bed, he yawned and rolled his shoulders. He was halfway to the kitchen before he realised he felt fine.

The realisation almost made him stagger. Ianto hadn't woken up feeling fine in a very, _very _long time. It felt so unfamiliar that he wasn't quite sure what to do. What did people do in the mornings when they felt fine? Sing in the shower? Make bacon and eggs instead of eating burnt toast? Whistle? He shook his head. _'Don't be daft, Ianto.' _Yet he found himself humming as he took his shower.

He found himself half-dancing to a song on the radio.

He found that he wasn't repulsed by his reflection.

He found himself knocking on Alice's door so that he could thank her for the chocolate.

Alice looked rather good, considering how early it was. She was still in her pyjamas, a long white nightie covered in blue flowers. Her dark hair was tied up in two messy plaits. She even had on a pair of soft white slippers. She looked a bit like Jack did in his coat. Sort of classic.

"Good morning." she said to him, smiling brightly. Her teeth were all pearly white.

Ianto felt like he was five years old, standing talking to the teacher he planned to marry when he got older, because she was the nicest, prettiest person in the whole world. He fought the urge to stare at his shoes and bite his nails.

"Um, hi." He blushed, realising how stupid he must look and sound to her. "I'm, uh, Ianto Jones. You sent me some chocolate..."

"Oh, hi! Did you like them? They weren't really anything fancy, but you looked like you needed some sweetie therapy." Alice smiled as she looked at Ianto. _'Such a lovely boy. He's kind and takes care of people. Everyone except himself. He had to grow up so fast. Such a lovely boy. Wonderful, sweet hearted, lovely boy.'_

Ianto stared at her face. It was so open and friendly that you wanted to smile just because you had looked at her. Her big hazel eyes were so deep and beautiful, he felt like staring at them forever. He realised with a start that she was waiting for him to say something. He must look like such an idiot...

"Uh...yeah. I liked them. I just wanted to thank you for giving them to me. So...uh...thank you. Alice."

Something in the back of Ianto's mind was screaming at him. Screaming that something was very, very wrong with this whole thing. He was acting wrong, he was feeling wrong, he was _seeing_ things wrong! But Alice's eyes and smile were drowning out the noise and filling his head. Filling it with soft music and glitter. Filling it with _good._

As he left his apartment building, Ianto realised he had agreed to have dinner with her that evening.

'How could you do that? Lisa hasn't even been dead a month!'

Ianto stumbled. That disconnected feeling had come back. He shook his head. It would be gone soon.

twtwtw

Alice smiled softly. Ianto had remembered the bad things for a second there. She wasn't worried though. All the bad memories would be gone soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack knew there was something different about Ianto the moment he saw him. His body language was completely changed from yesterday. Changed from any time Jack had seen him. His shoulders were more squared, his stride more confident, his chin lifted at a different angle. The change wasn't huge, but it was noticeable to anyone who looked. He stood out a bit more. Ianto had lost some of his invisibility.

Jack doubted that Owen, Gwen or Toshiko even noticed. But let's face it, Jack had been training himself to notice the unnoticeable for a_ long_ time.

twtwtw

Ianto felt the day pass in a daze. It felt like forever and no-time all at once. Like everything was in water...

_'I wonder what Alice will make for dinner?' _he thought. His eyes shifted to his watch. He frowned when he realised it had only been fifteen minutes since he had last looked.

'What is wrong with you?! What are you doing? Can't you see yourself?'

Ianto blinked. He thought he'd heard... He shook his head and went back to cleaning up the team's mess. As he worked, he did something he'd never done at work before. He hummed.

He only did it softly, barely audibly. The strange thing was, if anyone had asked him what he was humming, he wouldn't have known. Jack noticed. But he didn't ask.

twtwtw

Alice rolled her head back and cracked her neck. She was finding this form rather hard to maintain. And the nutrient consumption was so primitive. They ingested it _orally. _It was disgusting. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. And she'd have to do it tonight. She shuddered. The way of her people was so much more effective. And easier on the teeth.

She could feel Ianto Jones' mind becoming pliable and bending to her will. When he was ready, he would be an excellent feast. But it would take time.

She checked the time and realised she'd have to start cooking soon. She grimaced. Cooking was such a waste of time. But she set to work.

Grilled salmon with salad and potatoes should be nice, if she was a good judge of human tastes. And the fish would do her good. It reminded her of home.

Alice had just put the salad in the fridge when a shooting pain went through her hands and feet. She screamed in agony as she felt her fingers and toes attempt to return to their original form. They stiffened and stretched, trying to fuse together.

Alice felt her throat constrict and she began gasping for air. She ran as fast as her semi-crippled feet would allow, each step agonising as stepping on glass.

She half collapsed in the doorway of her room, her eyes once again milky white with black rings. Her already pale skin turning a ghostly blue. She dragged herself across the tiled floor to her bed. She heaved herself up the side, before flopping into it in a way that would be physically impossible for the spine of a human to withstand. Water slopped over the sides and soaked the floor. But Alice didn't care.

Her mind reached out to those of her sisters, drawing strength from them and the water. Staying in this shape was so _hard. _But at least the humans put these tanks in their homes. Perfect for a recharge.


	5. Chapter 5

Ianto had never felt so nervous in his life. He was standing outside Alice's door, about to go in and have dinner with her (an event her had been looking forward to all day) yet he couldn't bring himself to knock.

His hand was fisted at his side, prepared to knock, yet he didn't move. He felt his brain send the command for his arm to move, yet something was stopping him...

'You can't go in there!'

Ianto's already fisted hand tightened until his nails dug into his palm. The pain shocked him into movement, his eyes going to the crescent shaped indents. He'd come close to breaking the skin. Part of his mind knew that he really shouldn't be as shocked as he was, yet he couldn't stop staring at his palm.

He shook himself and raised his hand, this time knocking without any resistance. Alice opened the door almost immediately. Her pearly white smile and sparkling eyes made his brain feel muzzy and warm.

If he could notice anything other than Alice and her amazing smile, Ianto would have noticed that the music in his head was growing stronger. The haunting melody that seemed to fit Alice so well...

'Get out, get out, get out!'

Ianto stiffened slightly, his hand tightening around his fork, (when had he sat down to eat?) Alice seemed to notice, for she frowned slightly. But then she smiled again and they both kept eating.

Ianto stayed in Alice's flat for hours, and he and Alice talked the whole time. She was so witty and charming, it was impossible not to like her company. Just being around her felt good.

At ten o'clock, Ianto realised that he really needed to leave if he wanted to get to work on time tomorrow. He stood up from the sofa(when had they moved there?) Alice was sad that he had to leave, but she understood. She even gave him a warm hug just before he went out the door.

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Ianto felt cold. Ice cold. And he couldn't move. His limbs were bound by something strong and slick, something he couldn't break. He opened his eyes.

He was under water. At the bottom of the sea itself. In a ships graveyard.

The once proud galleons lay against the rocks, huge holes in their hulls looking like horrible bullet wounds. The tattered remains of their sails billowed in the current like ghosts.

Ianto knew he shouldn't be able to breathe, yet he was. He could feel himself breathing in and out, though there were no bubbles coming from his mouth and nose. Did that mean he was breathing water? How could he be breathing water?

Ianto tugged hard against the seaweed that kept him bound to a rock. Though the burgundy strands were slippery and rubbery, he couldn't get them off this wrists. The dark, oppressive atmosphere of the place was crushing him. He had to get away now!

Then a clammy, webbed hand closed over his face from behind and he woke with a start.


	6. Chapter 6

Jack charged down the street, his boots pounding against the tarmac. The figure ahead of him seemed to glow dimly in the moonlight, her pale skin shining like a beacon.

_'Chasing a scantily clad woman down a street in the middle of the night. Haven't done this in a while.' _Jack thought. The woman jumped and latched onto the window ledge of a warehouse window. A window that was a least ten feet from the ground. _'And now I remember why.' _

The woman slipped through the gap in between the window and the ledge like a silverfish, disappearing inside the warehouse. Jack scanned the building quickly, then ran up the three steps that led to the fire exit. He charged inside, his Webley drawn.

The warehouse was dark, and completely empty.

**Blam**

...Or not.

Jack rubbed his face where the woman's foot had connected with his jaw. He had to hand it to her, she had great legs. He suddenly realised that he was no longer holding his gun.

There was a dull clunk and a skittering noise from the other end of the warehouse. The woman stepped into view. Jack would later say that he noted that her eyes were white with a dark ring inside them in a purely clinical way. This wasn't exactly true. You couldn't be clinical around this woman.

"I'm warning you, human, or whatever it is you are," she said, her voice like falling snow, "Don't try to stop me."

Jack opened his mouth to spit out a witty retort, but the pain lancing up his jaw turned it into a stifled moan. In the two seconds that he was distracted, the woman disappeared.

Ignoring the pain, Jack rolled his jaw around. He felt the bones click back into place and the pain started to fade. "See, this is why dating people you meet at work is a bad idea." he said to no-one.

**Sorry it took me so long to update, but I'm in the process of moving house and things are pretty hectic. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon.**


	7. Chapter 7

Ianto straightened his tie and walked out his front door. Just as he turned to lock it, Alice poked he head out of her own door.

"Good morning Ianto. Do you want to come in for a cup of tea before you go to work?" Her pearly teeth gleamed.

Ianto felt something inside him protest. He knew he'd be late if he went in. He knew he would be really late because if he didn't get past the roundabout within the next fifteen minutes he'd get caught in the rush. Then Owen would yell about not getting his coffee, Jack would get grumpy and...

He realised he was sitting at Alice's kitchen table.

His hands curled around the mug in front of him, the heat spreading out through his hands. Alice was standing behind him rubbing his head and his shoulders.

"You've got such lovely hair, Ianto. It's so soft and it curls so nicely around my fingers. Lovely, soft, hair, twisting round. Like the hair you see in those paintings of _sleeping_ cherubs. That's what you have, _sleepy_ hair."

Ianto stared into the mug in front of him. He couldn't remember drinking, yet it was half empty now. And shouldn't the steam be rising out, not twisting back in? It looked like a twisted, smiling face.

"Oh Ianto, you poor dear thing, your shoulders are so tense. It must be painful for you. You should get them sorted out, then have a nice long _sleep_. Doesn't that sound nice? A massage and a good _sleep_."

Ianto could hear a strange echo in Alice's voice. It rose and fell, and he could almost catch the tune...

"Poor Ianto, so tired and sore, yet still going on. Well, you can rest now. Now you can have a wonderful, long, dreamless _sleep_.

Ianto vaguely noticed that he wasn't at the table any more and that Alice was tucking the softest duvet he had ever felt under his chin. He vaguely remembered that he was supposed to be going somewhere, but thinking was so hard right now. He'd feel better after he'd slept.

Alice stroked Ianto's forehead as he drifted off to sleep. "That's right Ianto. Sleep and forget all about the world. And become a feast for me and my sisters." She leaned over and kissed his forehead tenderly. "Sweet Ianto."


	8. Chapter 8

Jack ran his finger along the grain of the wood, swirled it round the knot and then ran it back the way it had come. The only other thing to do was paper work and this was more interesting.

Gwen, Toshiko, Owen and Ianto hadn't come in yet so he couldn't even discuss the alien woman he had seen last night. What was she going to do that she didn't want stopped? What species was she? Was she a threat? Was she single? All these questions were spinning around in Jack's mind when he heard the cog wheel roll back.

"Morning Jack." came Gwens voice. Jack's head shot up from his desk. Ianto was always the first one in. Always. Well, apart from himself, but that was because he never left and had been here since the early nineteen hundreds.

_**1 hour later**_

Jack stared over Tosh's shoulder at the CCTV camera footage. Ianto had never left his apartment building that morning. His car was untouched in the car park.

"Something must have happened to him." Jack said, straightening up and reaching for his coat.

"Maybe he's just sick?" Gwen said.

Jack shook his head. "That doesn't sound like Ianto. He's so efficient he would make Melvil Dewey fall down and cry if they ever met. Ianto would have called by now if he was taking a sick day."

Jack shoved his arms into his coat sleeves. "I'm going over there. While I'm gone, could you run through the database for an alien species Tosh?"

"Sure Jack. I need the description." said Toshiko as she turned back to her computer.

"Pale, humanoid, white eyed with a black circle in place of the iris, athletic and rather tall."

"Got it."

Jack strode out of the Hub, the only sound was Toshiko tapping at her keyboard.

Jack stepped out of the elevator and onto the fifth floor. Ianto's apartment was No. 48, so it was right at the end of the hall. The carpet was a faded reddish colour and would probably have passed for nice at one point but that point had been quite a while ago.

Jack's boots made no noise as her walked down the hall.

42...44...46...48.

Jack raised his hand to knock on the plain brown door, but before his fist made contact a pair of slender hand snaked around his neck. Before Jack could even blink, the hands quickly and mercilessly snapped his neck.


	9. Chapter 9

Ianto yawned and rubbed his eyes. How long had he been sleeping? He certainly felt more rested. The last time he had felt like this was before he had started working for...for...

He shook his head to try to shake the fog out of his brain. He didn't have a job any more. The coffee shop he had worked in had closed and he hadn't found something new yet. Alice was being very supportive. She knew he had to find something he really liked doing.

Speaking of Alice...

Ianto sniffed, then smiled. He could smell pancakes. He threw off the covers and got out of bed. And abruptly realised he had slept in his suit.

How had he ended up doing that? He never fell asleep in his clothes. And what had he been doing before? He shook his head again and decided to ask Alice. He reached out his hand and turned the door handle...

...or at least he tried to.

His hand gripped the brass handle so tightly he could feel the edges digging into his palm. His knuckles were growing whiter with each passing second. Ianto's brain was telling his wrist to turn so that the door would open, yet the wrist wasn't co-operating. His fingers gripped the handle tighter. The edges of the handle were cutting deeply into his palm. His arm began to shake.

Ianto let go of the handle.

He looked at his hand as if he'd never seen it before. In a way he hadn't. His hand had certainly never looked like this before. It was bright red all over except for the deathly white lines when the edges had bitten in.

_i don't belong here_

Ianto stared around wildly. Someone was here!

He spun around and looked around the room frantically. There was no-one there.

_'I must still be dreaming.' _Ianto thought. He pinched his already sore hand and blinked a few times.

Alice walked in. She looked like a vision in her white dress with her hair done up in curls. Ianto's brain went fuzzy at the sight of her.

"Well good morning sleepy head." she said, grinning at him. "And how are you this morning?"

Ianto smiled. "I slept fine thanks. Why I did it in my suit is beyond me though."

Alice laughed. "You fell asleep looking at the job listings. I didn't want to wake you so I just cleaned up and tucked you in."

Ianto nodded in understanding. Alice patted his arm and said sweetly, "Now I know I said I'd spend the day with you today, but I've got to go give Peg her bag back, she left it here when we came back from the gym. I'll only be gone about a half hour so you can eat you pancakes and pick a movie for us to watch."

Ianto smiled. "Don't worry, it's fine. You go ahead." He paused. "Who's Peg again?"

"Oh you remember, she's the one with the short hair and the brother who plays golf. Now I have to go otherwise she'll have left for work before I get there."

Alice walked quickly out of the room and Ianto followed her to the kitchen. The table was set for one with a large plate of pancakes steaming away in the centre. Ianto sat down and dug in while Alice heaved the large blue duffle bag onto her shoulder. She kissed Ianto's cheek and went out the front door.

Ianto didn't realise that she really should have noticed the state his hand was in.

twtwtwtw

Alice drove the car to a secluded area of the docks, pulled over and parked on a double yellow line, then heaved the duffle bag out of the back. She looked around to make sure no-one was watching, then dumped the bag into the water.

She didn't know who the man was, but he had wanted to take Ianto away. Well, he wouldn't be bothering them anymore.


End file.
